How many can I have installed and running together

Discussion in 'malware problems & news' started by mypenry, Sep 20, 2006.

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  1. mypenry

    mypenry Registered Member

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    As a ' Newbie ' Can some one please advise me. ....
    you can get the following types security of applications....
    1. Anti-Virus
    2. Anti-Malware
    3. On demand scanners Etc

    and many more types, of security applications .The Thing I don't know is how many of each application can you have running on your computer at the same time,
    as to not cause any conflicts , or running problems ...? This is what I have on my computer at the moment...
    AVG (free)
    Spybot S&D (free)
    ewido 4 ( paid )
    Ad-Aware (free)
    SpyWearBlaster
    SpyWearGuard
    The AVG , does not seem to find any thing,( in my opinion ) so I was thinking of changing to Avast, but I read that having AVG & Avast running together will cause
    a problem..? . So can some one please explaine just what security applications I can have installed and running together with out causing any problems, Just looking on this Forum every one seem's to have their own idea of the perfect security set up, This is my first new computer so I am trying to find a good overall security set up. Can you have too many security programs running on one computer, when I keep seeing that no one application will find 'all' the issues out there..? I was thinking of having as many different applications running; as if one does not find an issue then the next one may..?

    I am running Windows XP Pro Media Edition, but again being new to the world of computers, switching to another Browser Is some thing I am not too sure about, or confident to do yet..?
    Your advice and comments to this 'Newbie ' would be most welcome............ Thanks

    Mypenry
     
  2. ccsito

    ccsito Registered Member

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    Everyone will have their own opinion of what they see as the best protection for a computer, but I go by the rule of get only what is minimally needed to cover yourself. Although sometimes it is hard to know what is sufficient. But here is my two cent's worth.

    Antivirus - only one program can be resident (that is providing active protection) on a system (multiple non-resident programs should not be a problem). The most popular free programs are Antivir, Avast, and AVG.

    Antispyware programs - Either resident or non-resident or online scanner programs. You can have multiple programs on your PC. I haven't seen any major problems reported with having several programs. There are many programs to choose from this list. A list of programs can be found on the Spyware Warrior website.

    Firewall - Only one program. The most popular free programs are Zone Alarm, Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall, and Comodo. Windows XP has a firewall, but it only provides inbound protection. It doesn't stop outbound communications such as dialer program. You would need something to supplement the XP firewall to provide better protection.

    HIPS (Host Intrusion Preventer System). These are more advanced applications that require you to respond to any attempts to change files/settings on your PC. You make the decision to allow or block any action which is reported. I would recommend only one since overlap and conflicts may occur with several in use at the same time. The more popular programs are Process Guard, Prevx1, System Safety Monitor. Here is a blog discussing some of the programs.

    http://kareldjag.over-blog.com/article-3470338.html

    It all depends on how extensive that you want protection to be. When I got my first PC, all I used was Norton Utilities which managed the hard device. I did not need a firewall, antivirus, antispyware, or any other "protection" program (but then that was before there was internet access).
     
    Last edited: Sep 20, 2006
  3. Mrkvonic

    Mrkvonic Linux Systems Expert

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    Hello,
    First question: why does not finding anything sound a bad thing? If your anti-virus does not find anything, does that mean it's bad? If that's the case, then all anti-virii in my opinion are bad. And you have programs that find things are not really there - that's even worse.
    Anyhow, you should:
    Run only 1 resident program of each type + unlimited number of on-demand.
    As for anti-virus programs, you can enjoy a resident one + Bit Defender, ClamWin on demand, Kaspersky plugin for IE, and Dr.Web link checker if you use Firefox. That's a pretty crowd there.
    Mrk
     
  4. ccsito

    ccsito Registered Member

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    As for browsers, you can have mutiple programs because they don't interact with one another. Mozilla Firefox and Opera are two well regarded browser programs that are more secure than Microsoft Internet Explorer.
     
  5. mypenry

    mypenry Registered Member

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    Thanks guy's for the info, and advice,

    Is there a way I can just turn off AVG ( without uninstalling it ) so I can download AVAST, and give it a try....?, then if I am not happy with AVAST , i can just un install it and switch back on AVG..?

    Thanks ......... Mypenry
     
  6. ccsito

    ccsito Registered Member

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    I have never used AVG so not sure if there is an "off" option for the Antivirus program. Most experts don't recommend having multiple Antivirus programs on one PC, but I think as long as only one is memory resident at any given time, then it should be OK to have several. In most situations, you can uninstall one program, install another, test that one, then uninstall the newer program, and then reinstall the previous program. I have Norton Antivirus on one PC and then added Antivir without removing Norton. I updated the msconfig startup menu to stop loading of the Norton program files. Before I did that, the two programs did not seem to cause any problems on the computer even though both were loaded at the same time. So AVG and Avast might work the same way.
     
  7. the Tester

    the Tester Registered Member

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    That's right.One resident or monitor a/v and the other would be an on-demand scanner.That shouldn't cause any problems.
     
  8. aigle

    aigle Registered Member

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    Better to try one AV at a time to avoid any conflicts.
     
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